LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman will interview College of Charleston Head Baseball Coach John Pawlowski today, LSU Senior Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent said Tuesday. Pawlowski is the second candidate to interview for the position at LSU following the departure of former Head Coach Raymond “Smoke” Laval. Bertman met with Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin on Tuesday. “Bertman will be in New York City early next week, a trip scheduled prior to the coaching search,” Vincent said. “From there, Bertman will be off to Omaha, where he will take part in activities for the College Baseball Hall of Fame. He may or may not conduct interviews in Omaha. As of right now, nothing is scheduled.” Pawlowski, 42, concluded his seventh season as head coach at the College of Charleston Saturday when his team lost to Georgia Tech in the NCAA Atlanta Super Regional. The Johnson City, New York, native led the Cougars to a 46-17 overall record in 2006 and won the Southern Conference Tournament Championship. Charleston advanced further in post-season play in 2006 than any previous Cougar baseball team, making the Super Regionals after defeating No. 15 Notre Dame, Ball State and No. 13 Kentucky on consecutive days. Pawlowski was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year in both 2004 and 2006. Pawlowski pitched for the Chicago White Sox organization from 1985 to 1991. He also had stints in the California Angels (1991-92) and Baltimore Orioles (1992) organizations. He returned to work at his alma mater, Clemson, as pitching coach and assistant recruiting coordinator from 1994 to 1998 after his Major League Baseball career ended. At Clemson, the Tigers advanced to five consecutive NCAA regional appearances and two trips to the College World Series in 1995 and 1996. In 1996, his pitching staff ranked first in the nation for team ERA at 3.03. In 1999, Pawlowski worked for one season as an assistant coach under Arizona State’s Pat Murphy, where his primary duties were recruiting and coaching the Sun Devils pitching staff. ASU finished fifth (39-21, 12-12 Pac 10) in the Pacific 10 Conference with a team ERA of 4.54 that year, the lowest mark for that pitching staff in six years. Along with Pawlowski, two SEC coaches have been rumored to be candidates for the job. Ole Miss Head Coach Mike Bianco, who played in 1988 and 1989 under LSU’s Bertman and was rumored to be one of the leading candidates, received a one-year contract extension Wednesday through the 2010 season. Bianco said Bertman sent the official paperwork requesting an interview to the Ole Miss athletic department Wednesday afternoon, but Bianco had already made up his mind. “I talked to Bertman this afternoon and told him that I was super flattered to be considered for the job,” Bianco said. “I would not be sitting here if not for Skip Bertman and LSU. It was a very difficult call to make because of what I think about him and LSU. My wife and family are settled and love it here. He understood and congratulated me.” Jim Wells, Alabama head coach and former graduate assistant at LSU from 1987 to 1989, is also rumored to be a candidate. “The potential is there at LSU,” Wells told Gannett Louisiana Newspapers on Tuesday. “The thing that’s interesting is the TOPS (scholarships). That certainly helps with your scholarships. It certainly gives you more to work with. You can get a player or two you usually wouldn’t get.” On Wednesday, Vincent acknowledged there were no new developments and that no coach besides Pawlowski is scheduled to be interviewed this week. “There is still no tentative deadline to hire a new coach,” Vincent said. “July 1 is a date that would be better for recruiting purposes, but by no means will the position be compromised because of a deadline.”
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